The Visible Thinking approach invites teachers to establish a classroom culture where children’s thinking is valued, promoted, and made visible with the use of documentation. Effective thinkers externalize their thoughts through speaking, writing, and drawing. Yet, as Ritchhart and Perkins (2008) say, one problem with thinking is that it’s invisible. Young children are ready for and deserve rich and cognitively engaging early learning experiences (Salmon 2010, 2016). Equally important, when teachers know what and how children think, they can better scaffold their learning (Ritchhart & Church 2020). Our research shows that when adults help children identify their thinking processes, children are likely to be more curious, more aware and reflective about their own thinking, and more likely to develop “thinking dispositions” (tendencies that guide intellectual behavior) as they encounter problems and try to solve them (Salmon 2016). Because learning is a consequence of thinking (Ritchhart & Perkins 2008), teachers face the challenge of engaging children and seeking to draw out and understand their inner thoughts. Young children naturally produce a great deal of thinking both in and out of school. This article is a testimony to those teachers’ experiences and the shifts in their approaches as they focus on children’s ideas and imaginations. Developed by Harvard University’s Project Zero, Visible Thinking gives teachers the tools to cognitively engage children. In our work with teachers, we implement the Visible Thinking approach to help early childhood educators intentionally plan and implement a culture of active thinking. Classrooms that incorporate child-directed experiences offer many opportunities for children to uncover their ideas, to generate questions, and to construct their own knowledge (NAEYC 2020). Classrooms that rely heavily on teacher-directed experiences tend to provide a set of instructions to generate predetermined answers or actions, which can hinder children’s thinking. Teachers can create and carry out a classroom culture that either fosters or discourages engaged and active thinkers. This makes the act of thinking visible to children and invites them to reflect on it. When teachers value the thinking of early learners, they intentionally design scenarios in which children are cognitively engaged. But more recent research shows the importance of supporting children’s innate intellectual dispositions and capacities as active learners (Katz 2015). Historically, early childhood classrooms were built around the idea that children needed teacher-directed instructions and guidance to reach predetermined outcomes. What inspires children’s curiosity? What drives active and engaged thinking in children, as illustrated in the opening vignette? Philosophers, researchers, and educators have long grappled with these questions. “How does a rainbow feel?”Ĭlara thinks for a moment. “Have you ever touched a rainbow before?” Lisi asks. “But how did you connect a rainbow to what you touched in that box?” “What makes you think it’s a rainbow?” Lisi asks. She shows her drawing and says, “My hypothesis is a rainbow.” So I touched the wheels and they moved.”Ĭlara is next. “So when I touched it, the bus was clean, and wheels were yellow. “When I was little, my dad had a workshop for buses,” Lily says. “What did you connect to when you touched the object inside the box?” “Can you describe with details why you have that hypothesis?” Lisi asks. “My hypothesis is that I think it is a bus,” says Lily, holding up her drawing. Once they finish their drawings, they share and listen to each other’s ideas. Lisi gives them time to make their predictions, then asks them to sit down and draw their hypotheses. The children eagerly take turns inserting their hands into the box and touching the object. Then, you’re going to go to the table and draw what you think you felt. Second, once you touch what’s in here, your mind is going to think and make connections. “First, you are going to put your hand through this hole and feel what’s inside. “We are going to follow three simple steps,” she says as she introduces the activity. Carefully, she cuts a hole in the box’s side so her children can reach in and touch the juicer without seeing it. Lisi, a teacher of 4-year-olds at Learning Steps Learning Center in Miami, Florida, puts a manual orange squeezer in a box.
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